Latvia Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas has signed the contract for the development of the detailed technical design for Rail Baltica Salaspils terminal.
The contract will be implemented by an association of BRD projekts (Latvia) and Sintagma (Italy) which will also provide the supervision until the terminal is put into operation.
The detailed technical design is expected to be ready in 2024.
The Salaspils intermodal freight terminal will provide container handling on both 1435 mm and 1520 mm gauge railways, as well as road transport and piggy-back loading and unloading onto specialized train wagons. The new freight terminal, in addition to receiving, shipping, and processing freights, entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to develop production facilities and warehouses.
81-85% of the project’s funding is provided by the EU’s Connecting Europe Facility, with the remaining amount granted from the state budget of Latvia. The Ministry of Transport is the beneficiary of the EU aid and the project implementer.
As Rail Baltica will be an important corridor for both passenger and freight transport, “the Salaspils intermodal freight terminal is a key element [of the corridor]. The current geopolitical situation clearly shows the importance of creation of such a transport corridor towards Western Europe in order to facilitate the connectivity of Latvia and the Baltic States, and safe, and fast freight flow in North-South direction”, the Latvian Minister for Transport Tālis Linkaits said.
The Rail Baltica infrastructure has several important points of contact with Salaspils and the project implementers have established a successful cooperation with Salaspils Municipality, working together on the best possible future solutions.
“The Salaspils Freight Terminal combines a unique set of advantages to significantly increase the competitiveness of the Latvian logistics industry in the Baltic region. This will be a major benefit as multimodal solutions are only increasing in importance worldwide,” Kaspars Vingris, Chairman of the Board of Eiropas Dzelzceļa līnijas said.
The Rail Baltica Salaspils terminal will create an integrated freight network along the Rail Baltica corridor, alongside with the Muuga multi-modal freight terminal situated in Estonia for which the design work started and with Kaunas intermodal terminal that has started the operation in 2021.
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